Monday, November 27, 2006

So many digital standards for storing data (CDs, DVDs, Zip drives, etc...) and now we're back to the simple good old paper!

A student in Kerala has developed a technique for portable data whereby the data can now be stored on an ordinary piece of paper. In order to get the data back to the computer all you have to do is just scan the piece of paper and process it over the created software. Instead of using zeros and ones for computing, this technique uses geometric shapes such as circles, squares and triangles for computing which combine with various colors and preserve the data in images. In order to do this, all kinds of data has to be first converted into a common format called “Rainbow Format.”

Named “Rainbow Technology”, the new technique is the brainchild of Sainul Abideen, who has just finished his MCA at Muslim Educational Society Engineering College in Kuttipuram in Kerala’s Malappuram district.

The extremely low-cost technology will drastically reduce the cost of storage and provide for high-speed storage as well. Files in any format such as movie files, songs, images and text can be stored using this technology. The Rainbow Versatile Disc (RVD) can store 90 to 450 GB.

Sainul has simultaneously developed a scanning drive based on his Rainbow software which will come in smaller sizes to be initially carried with the laptops and later to fit into their bodies.